"Offer your smile to The Fates and you shall feel less their Slave."~ DSF

WHY THIS BLOG?

I AM PARCA'S CHOSEN:Parca is the Roman Goddess of Childbirth and Destiny and after you get to know me, you will see why I believe she has, without doubt, made me her Poster Child. I deal with the odd serious issue but for the most part, my posts are just some cheeky fun. You'll find satire with the odd parody tossed in....and most definitely a generous helping of hyperbole, with a dollop of facetiousness.

Friday, June 17, 2016

AS ADMIN TO THE LARGEST AND BEST OUTLANDER SERIES FACEBOOK GROUP(OS), I APPROACHED DR. GABALDON WITH A REQUEST THAT 'SHE'BETHE PRIZE IN A GROUP CONTEST I WAS HOPING TO RUN.

TO MY ABSOLUTE SURPRISE AND DELIGHT, THROUGH HER LOVELY ASSISTANT SUSAN, I WAS GIVEN A GO-AHEAD AND WE HAD A GREAT CONTEST ON APRIL 22 2016. HERE ARE THE RESULTS, COPIEDDIRECTLY FROM OUR GROUP... THREE UNIQUE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

ADMIN: Almost 2
months ago I held a "WIN A PERSONAL REPLY FROM DIANA CONTEST (* see meme above) and Herself has now replied! We knew and understood that she
would do so as her schedule allowed, so we are very grateful and honored
that she chose our group to focus her precious time on. THANK YOU DIANA! And thanks to everyone on OS for your awesome questions!

I chose 8 finalists and then asked Diana to chose the 3 winners, as she
would know better than I which questions were not asked as often, or at
all. SO, CONGRATULATIONS GO TO: EW, Marcy Ann and Twila Allenfor asking the winning questions! Here are your prizes... your personal answers:

Q1: EW M: If you lived in Jamie’s time, what do you think your occupation would be?

DG: Novelist, most likely. <g> Women wrote both novels and plays
in the 18th century,, some of them quite successfully. And one of the
benefits of being a writer is that —unless you choose otherwise—nobody
knows who you are, or what you look like.

If I chose to write
under a male name, or a sexually ambiguous one, I could. If I wasn’t
able to make a decent living by writing, though, I suppose I’d be a
printer and bookseller.

Q2: MARCY ANN: Diana, are you preparing to write another book series with an entirely different cast of characters?

DG: “Preparing” would certainly be overstating the case. <g> In
the fullness of time (and if I should live so long, God willing), I do
intend to write Master Raymond’s story. I only have a few bits of that
at present, though, and no more than three or four characters show up in
those bits.

Q3: TWILA ALLEN: How did you balance being a wife,
mother of small children, and writing these incredible books all at the
same time? What’s you work-life balance advice?

DG: You forgot
the two full-time jobs (I was a university professor and wrote freelance
(almost full-time) for the computer press).

Basically, I didn’t
sleep, I didn’t do housework, and I didn’t watch TV. In other words, you
decide what’s important to you, and then you figure out a way to do
those things. This naturally means not doing other things, or finding
ways of doing necessary-but-not-desirable-things more efficiently.

When my kids were very little, I’d put on children’s television on
Saturday morning, lie down on the couch and sleep while they walked up
and down on me. When they got a little older, I could make deals with
them: “Look, I need to work. Don’t bother me for two hours, and after
lunch, we’ll go to the zoo.” (Or, you know, you can just hide. For a few
years, I’d leave through my front door as though going to my university
office, then sneak back into the garage (which my husband had outfitted
as an office when he started his own business. I inherited it when his
business got going and he moved out to more official premises) and work
undisturbed for the morning. The only problem was that while the door
between the garage and the house locked, the lock was on their side. If
they realized I was in there, they’d be on me in an instant. So at least
once during the morning’s work, I’d have to leave through the outer
door, get in my car and drive down to the mall so I could go to the
bathroom.)

It’s just priorities and persistence, though. If your
husband doesn’t like your going off by yourself to write, for instance,
you just take him to bed and wear him out. Then when he falls asleep,
you get up and work.________________________________________________

BRILLIANT! HOW GREAT IS SHE? AS SMART AND FUNNY AS ALWAYS...BRAVO DIANA!

I want to thank Diana again for her generosity of time and a special thanks to her assistant Susan who was so approachable and helpful. 59,000 HUGS to youboth from all the fans on OS! *and my husband thanks her for the last part of Question 3... *wink*

Hi Gabrielle: I took a shot in asking for her participation and was greatly rewarded for my audacity. *wink* Diana is amazing and I adore the woman. Brilliant writer and a witty and bright soul. Loved her answers... the group had such fun! Cheers!

I really do appreciate you reading and perhaps sharing my blog pieces and hoped you enjoyed them. Leave a comment if you like and I will reply asap. *NOTE: I have strong opinions and will gladly respond to respectful debate or disagreement, but too many people use blogs as a platform for their insanity and hate, so be aware that my moderator will not allow Haters to spread their hate and I personally only see comments, good or bad, that are not rude.